Families in West Wales are experiencing a longer wait for the cremation of their loved ones because of improvement works being carried out at Parc Gwyn Crematorium.

Over 40 per cent fewer funerals are currently taking place at the facility near Narberth, because only one of the cremating machines is operational.

The crematorium usually has capacity for 54 funerals a week, but this number has temporarily dropped to 30.

This means that families are having to wait longer between the date of death and the date of funeral, Parc Gwyn is operated by Pembrokeshire County Council, whose spokesman, Len Mullins, said that the time-lapse was ‘nowhere near the three weeks’ which was being suggested.

He told the Western Telegraph on Thursday: “As of today, the next available slot that can be offered to families is March 30, which is 11 days time.”

The restrictions began on January 22, with funeral directors informed back in October.

Explained Mr Mullins: “The reason is that work has begun on replacing the cremators which have come to the end of their serviceable life. This has resulted in one of the two machines being decommissioned while the other machine is kept operational.

“To facilitate this, we have had to restrict the number of available cremations slots from ten per day to six per day. In addition, we are currently unable to offer the four slots which are normally offered on a Saturday.

“It is anticipated the two new cremators will be operational again from April 27. At this point we will then return to our normal weekday service of ten cremations per day.”